This invention relates to a process for the preparation of organic acids and/or esters by transition metal catalyzed oxidation of 1-substituted 2,2,2-trihaloethanols.
Certain 1-aryl-2,2,2-trihaloethanols may be transformed into aldehydes, .alpha.-hydroxy acids or keto-alkdehydes by treatment with aqueous or alcoholic alkali. These reactions have been described in, for example, U.K. patent specification 1,331,664 and Chem. Rev., 1975, 75,269,272. A similar pattern of reactivity has been observed with 1-alkenyl-2,2,2-trichloroethanols.
It has now been found that 1-substituted 2,2,2-trihaloethanols or acylated derivatives thereof can be directly converted into carboxylic acids and/or esters by reacting them with molecular oxygen in the presence of a suitable catalyst.